Benfica have claimed a 1-0 win against Borussia Dortmund in Tuesday night's Champions League last-16 first leg at the Estadio de Luz.
The hosts took the lead in the 48th minute through Konstantinos Mitroglou, who was on hand to prod home from close range following Luisao's headed flick-on.
Despite being second-best in most departments, Benfica defended stoutly and also benefited from luck as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang missed several gilt-edged chances and fluffed a second-half penalty.
Here is how Sports Mole covered the action in Portugal.
Hello and welcome to Sports Mole's live text coverage of the Champions League last-16 first-leg clash between Benfica and Borussia Dortmund.
After a hiatus of more than two months, the Champions League is finally back! No better time than on Valentine's Day to rekindle our love with Europe's premier club football competition.
Lisbon's Estadio da Luz will tonight play host to a side that has reached 10 European finals during its history, winning two back in 1961 and 1962, but will arguably be seen as outsiders for this year's competition, against the team that won the Champions League outright 20 seasons ago and contested the final just four years ago.
Benfica, who finished runners-up in Group B below Napoli, are in good form at present, having bounced back strongly from consecutive shock defeats to Moreirense and Vitoria de Setubal with two 3-0 wins in a row, against Nacional and Arouca.
Dortmund, meanwhile, have endured a tough time of late, winning just two of their previous nine games in all competitions, and succumbed to a 2-1 defeat at Bundesliga bottom side Darmstadt last weekend.
Without further ado, let's bring you the team news for tonight's clash.
BENFICA STARTING XI: Ederson, Semedo, Luisao, Lindelof, Eliseu, Fejsa, Pizzi, Salvio, Carrillo, Rafa, Mitroglou
DORTMUND STARTING XI: Burki, Bartra, Dembele, Reus, Guerreiro, Aubameyang, Sokratis, Piszczek, Schmelzer, Weigl, Durm
BENFICA SUBS: Cesar, Jardel, Almeida, Samaris, Augusto, Cervi, Raul
DORTMUND SUBS: Weidenfeller, Schurrle, Pulisic, Kagawa, Castro, Ginter, Passlack
Two changes for Rui Vitoria's charges this evening as Brazilian striker Jonas is unavailable following his back injury against Arouca, so his place up front is taken by Rafa Silva, while Andrija Zivkovic is suspended and thus replaced by Toto Salvio on the wing. Former Fulham forward Konstantinos Mitroglou leads the line for the Portuguese side.
As for Dortmund, Mario Gotze has not recovered in time to feature in this game, while Sven Bender, Nuri Sahin and Sebastian Rode also miss out through injury. Thomas Tuchel has made four changes from the shock defeat at Darmstadt, with Marcel Schmelzer returning to start in defence and captain the side, and Lukasz Piszczek, Marc Bartra and Ousmane Dembele are also drafted in.
As mentioned before, both teams tonight are former European champions, and both have also reached European finals in the last couple of years. Benfica have (in)famously lost eight of those since 1962, with some of the more superstitious fans of the Portuguese giants attributing it to something known as The Curse of Bela Guttman.
Known as the Jose Mourinho of his era, Guttman had just led Benfica to back-to-back European Cup victories in the early 1960s and the club looked set to rule the international stage for years to come, but shortly after steering his side to victory over Real Madrid in 1962, he quit when his request for a pay rise was turned down.
On leaving, Guttman allegedly cursed the club, declaring "not in a hundred years from now will Benfica ever be European champion." And 45 years later and eight runners-up finishes in both major European tournaments, the Lisbon giants' wait for another continental trophy continues.
Is the curse real or just a load of nonsense? Whatever the answer, Benfica are probably playing Dortmund at just the right time, when the German side's form has taken a dip.
Dortmund have experienced a topsy-turvy campaign, finishing ahead of Real Madrid in their Champions League group and beating Bayern Munich and RB Leipzig in the Bundesliga, but they have also lost to the likes of Darmstadt and failed to put away Ingolstadt, Koln, Augsburg and several others - as it stands, they sit fourth in the German top-flight table, 15 points behind leaders Bayern Munich.
A certain VIP is in attendance at the Estadio da Luz...
Olha quem está no Estádio da Luz... Ryan Giggs! #SLBBVB pic.twitter.com/vvc1hOpgSm — SL Benfica (@SLBenfica) February 14, 2017
HEAD TO HEAD: Dortmund eliminated Benfica in the 1963-64 European Cup first round, their only previous encounter. They lost 2-1 in the first leg, but won 5-0 in Germany to win the tie.
Benfica have won only one of their last 15 European Cup/Champions League encounters with German clubs, against Kaiserslautern in November 1998. Of the remaining ties, they have drawn five and lost nine.
Dortmund are one of six teams yet to suffer a defeat in the Champions League this season, and won both games earlier this season against another Lisbon side, Sporting, but have lost six of their last eight games in the Champions League knockout stages.
SCORE PREDICTION: I reckon Dortmund will be hoping to compensate for their lacklustre domestic season with a good tilt at a cup run, so I think they will claim the win today, but by just one goal. Let's go for 2-1.
The players are making their way out on to the pitch - we will be underway shortly!
KICKOFF! Referee Nicola Rizzoli blows the whistle at the Estadio da Luz and Dortmund get the action underway!
Early intent from Benfica as Salvio manages to get to the right-hand byline and sends a pass into the penalty area, but the Dortmund defence manages to hack the ball away.
Now Semedo manages to force a corner from Sokratis, but the Dortmund defence clears the inswinging set piece, but the hosts threaten again through Silva, who reclaims the ball and tries to have a pop at goal only to see his shot charged down. Lively start!
End-to-end stuff here in Lisbon as Reus cuts in from the left and finds Dembele inside the area, but his low effort is blocked, and moments later Benfica get the ball up the pitch where Salvio claims, beats Sokratis, but blasts over the bar.
No let-up to the action as Eliseu is penalised for a high tackle on Weigl, though the ref does not show a card, and shortly after, a ball from Piszczek over the top finds Aubameyang in space, but he is denied by the linesman's flag - wrongly, it appears!
CHANCE! Aubameyang will be kicking himself there! The Gabon striker makes a yard for himself inside the box after latching onto Dembele's pass from midfield, but he smashes his shot over the bar!
Salvio gives away a free kick outside the box, which Reus swings in from the left flank, but his delivery misses everyone in the box and goes straight to Ederson.
The action seems to have settled after the frantic start, with Dortmund content to pass the ball round as they find their bearings after Aubameyang's miss.
Guerreiro and Durm combine and the former almost releases Aubameyang behind the Benfica defence, only for Ederson to come out of his area and head the ball away.
Benfica win a free kick on the right flank after Salvio is hacked down by Schmelzer, but they make nothing of it as Pizzi overhits it and the defence clears with ease.
Dembele and Pizzi challenge for a high ball and the Dortmund teenager comes off worse, so the ref stops play, but it looks as if he will be okay to continue.
Schmelzer almost splits the Benfica defence open as he gets down the left and tries to thread the ball through to Guerreiro, but it's snuffed out at the last.
Weigl attempts to loft a ball over the top of the Benfica defence for Durm's run, but once again it fails to turn into anything more meaningful as it trickles out for a goal kick.
CHANCE! Reus pulls the ball back from the left-hand byline and finds Dembele, who goes for a low shot, but Lindelof and the goalkeeper throw themselves at the ball and force it out for a corner.
CHANCE! Following a brief medical stoppage after Lindelof and Ederson collided, the corner is swung in and punched away by the stopper but only goes as far as Schmelzer on the edge of the box, who fires well wide.
Benfica win a throw-in, which Salvio hurls deep into the Dortmund box, but the visitors' defence doesn't panic and gets the ball clear.
Half an hour played and, despite the action on show tonight, neither side has managed to record a shot on goal. Another offside is given against Aubameyang, one of several so far this evening.
Fejsa almost costs his side dear with a backpass which looks too short for Ederson as Aubameyang presses, but the Benfica keeper races out of his box to clear the danger.
Dortmund on top here but they're struggling to make it count as a Durm run is halted for offside and, moments later, Ederson makes a catch after Piszczek loops a ball into the area intended for Reus.
CHANCE! Fejsa is nearly caught out once again! He tries to shepherd the ball out but Guerreiro manages to hustle back possession and cut back across goal, where Aubameyang is waiting a yard out with the keeper beaten - just too heavy for him though!
Dembele attempts to latch on to a ball behind the Benfica defence and beats Ederson to it, only for the keeper to cynically take him out in the process. Nothing given!
Dembele is alright following that challenge and play gets back underway as Reus and Guerreiro combine in the final third, with the forward releasing the Portuguese in behind, but he is caught offside.
Dembele attempts to pick out Aubameyang with his forward run, but there was too little space into which to thread the ball, and it allows the home side to clear.
We have three minutes of added time in the first half.
Schmelzer curls a cross towards the back post, which Eliseu heads behind for a corner under pressure from Durm, but the ensuing set piece is caught by Ederson.
HALF TIME: BENFICA 0-0 DORTMUND
Half time and it's as you were, with neither side managing to break the deadlock.
It began brightly enough and it really did look like we might have seen a goal or three, but once the action settled, it became a case of Dortmund dominating possession but failing to find that bite in the final third as Benfica defended tenaciously.
The visitors had the best chances of that first half, with Pierre-Emerick Aubayemang guilty of a glaring miss in the 10th minute and another missed opportunity when Raphael Guerreiro flashed the ball across the Benfica goal but proved just too heavy for him, while Ousmane Dembele was unlucky to see his 23rd-minute chance forced behind for a corner.
We are yet to see a shot on target in this game, though we have had seven off-target efforts in total (three for Benfica, four for Dortmund), but the visitors have dominated possession (67 percent) and completed 292 passes to Benfica's 119. However, Dortmund have had six passages of play snuffed out for offside - something Thomas Tuchel will need to work on if his side are to capitalise on their dominance.
How's this for a half-time score: Paris Saint-Germain 2, Barcelona 0! Who could have seen that coming?
KICKOFF: Benfica get the second half underway. One half-time change, for the hosts, as Filipe Augusto replaces Andre Carrillo.
Benfica have come right out of the starting blocks as they force a corner, but Pizzi's ball fails to make an impact.
GOAL! BENFICA 1-0 DORTMUND (KOSTANTINOS MITROGLOU)
Oh, how Thomas Tuchel will be kicking himself! After dominating the first half with nothing to show for it, they have now been caught out!
It began with Schmelzer conceding a corner from Salvio's cross, the set piece is swung in by Pizzi, Luisao flicks the ball on with his head and it falls to Mitroglou, who controls and duly buries home from a yard out!
CHANCE! Dortmund set about trying to draw level and the intent is showing as Ederson is forced to come off his line quickly to stop Dembele's shot from the edge of the six-yard box.
CHANCE! Aubameyang is not having a good day is he? Sokratis picks the striker out with a low pass and it's just him versus the goalkeeper, but he makes a complete hash of it, blasting high and wide!
Piszczek picks up a pass, lines up a shot and strikes from 25 yards out, but Ederson gets a hand to it and forces a corner. Good pressure from Dortmund.
PENALTY! Fejsa, not for the first time today, risks costing his side dear as he handballs from Bartra's effort, and the ref does not hesitate to point to the spot! Aubameyang to take...
SAVE! Oh dear. Straight down the middle, not much power to it, and Ederson is thankful as he pushes it away!
The ensuing corner comes to nothing and the home fans in the stands are starting to believe that they could claim the win tonight... it's just looking like one of them days today for Dortmund, with Aubayemang clearly misplacing his scoring boots prior to entering the pitch.
SUBSTITUTION: And indeed, Thomas Tuchel decides to put the Gabon striker out of his misery as Andre Schurrle comes on in his place.
CHANCE! Guerreiro sends a free kick into the Benfica box and it almost falls to Sokratis, but the defender fails to read the flight of the ball and it comes to nothing.
BOOKING: Prior to the free kick, Fejsa was shown a yellow card for bringing down Guerreiro.
CHANCE! Guerreiro collects Dembele's pass on the left and sends a cross towards Reus, who attempts an audacious volley in a bid to make the most of a somewhat inaccurate ball, but blasts wide.
SUBSTITUTION: Second change of the night for Benfica as Silva goes off to be replaced by Cervi.
CHANCE! Dortmund are cranking up the pressure as they force two corners in quick succession which ends with Sokratis heading wide.
Barcelona are 4-0 down. I repeat, Barcelona are 4-0 down.
Heading into the last 15 minutes of the game and, looking at the stats, there's only been one side in it - as things stand, however, that side is the losing one! Dortmund have had almost 70 percent possession, four shots on target, seven corners and completed 445 passes, but they're a goal down. I'll say it again - one of them days...
BOOKING: First yellow of the night for Dortmund as Schmelzer brings down Salvio on the halfway line.
SUBSTITUTION: Final change of the night for the hosts as Raul Jimenez comes on in place of goalscorer Mitroglou.
Just over 12 minutes left and Benfica have shut up shop. Schurrle makes a neat turn on the edge of the box, but Semedo and Luisao quickly close him down.
SUBSTITUTIONS: One last throw of the dice from Tuchel as Gonzalo Castro replaces Raphael Guerreiro and Christian Pulisic comes on for Marco Reus.
CHANCE! Eliseu gives away a free kick which sub Castro decides to take, the ball falls to fellow newcomer Pulisic who strikes a peach of a shot from the edge of the area, it takes a deflection but Ederson is equal to it!
BOOKING: Pulisic brings down Pizzi on the edge of the Benfica box and goes into the book.
CHANCE! Benfica are under siege as Dortmund become increasingly desperate to get an away goal and Pulisic comes close again, collecting an attempted clearance from a corner and volleying towards goal, but it's just over the bar!
BOOKING: A late booking for Bartra as he lashes out on Jimenez.
Four added minutes here at the Estadio da Luz.
FULL TIME: BENFICA 1-0 DORTMUND
Benfica have done it! A smash-and-grab as they claim the only goal of the game and hold out to claim a 1-0 win over Borussia Dortmund!
It was a tale of two strikers as Benfica's Konstantinos Mitroglou struck the winner at the start of the second half, while Pierre-Emerick Aubayemang had a night to forget as he missed a plethora of chances, including one from the penalty spot, and was subbed off just after the hour. So it's advantage Benfica after the first leg!
That's all we have time for here at the Estadio da Luz but stay with Sports Mole as we bring you match reports, reaction and the latest news from all the night's football! Thank you for following us and until next time, goodbye!
Written by
Giuseppe Labellarte
Giuseppe Labellarte
